


tremble.

by WhimsicalMercy



Series: Broke my Bones, Tasted Blood [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dave | Technoblade and Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, Fights, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Mentioned Toby Smith | Tubbo, Piglin Technoblade, Respawn is a thing, Set after the Festival (Oct. 16), Whump, Wilbur isn't a villain but he is certainly not mentally stable, but it sucks, the Pit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27647269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhimsicalMercy/pseuds/WhimsicalMercy
Summary: [ Ph1LzA has joined the game. ]Phil gets all of three seconds to look at his spawn before the world goes to hell.Also known as Phil comes to get his kids and it's a lot worse than he thought it was.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson
Series: Broke my Bones, Tasted Blood [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021579
Comments: 26
Kudos: 501





	tremble.

**Author's Note:**

> My first work in a long while and it's kind of sad. I started writing this a little bit after the Festival, so this is set before the Finale. Respawn is a thing in my universe, but it's based on chance. It's not really mentioned, but I did want to make that clear. It just didn't make sense to actually talk about it anywhere in the fic, so there's some info if anyone is actually curious.
> 
> A huge thank you to my friend Mercy who picked the prompt and another thank you to my new friend Ollie for betaing this for me!
> 
> All characters used in this are based purely on their fictional personas. If any of the creators decide they are not comfortable with fanworks, this work will be taken down immediately to respect their wishes. I also ask that this work is not linked anywhere or intentionally shared with any of the creators mentioned.

_[ Ph1LzA has joined the game. ]_

Phil gets all of three seconds to look at his spawn before the world goes to hell.

He gets a message, but it wasn’t from any of his children. It was from _Nihachu_ , a simple set of coordinates. He looked at the chat again and nearly choked. His eyes widened and he counted the messages, all ending with _Technoblade_. All of them were the _Player went off with a bang_. messages. One of the messages being _Tubbo’s_ death. He swallowed hard and looked up at the sky. He checked his own coordinates, gathered his things and took off as quickly as he could. He needed to head North and a little East, but not by much. His bag slammed against his side as he ran. He had no fireworks to use so his elytra was fairly useless unless he could get up high. He also wasn’t sure if Dream wanted him to even have his wings seeing as going to the End was forbidden on this server. This was, after all, not his world. He would need to follow the rules here, even though he doubted he would be staying for long.

He would have to ask later, he needed to reach his sons first.

He hesitated before deciding that flying over trees may cause him to miss something far too important and that he would just have to run as fast as he could. He easily jumped logs, scaled hills and glided where he could. He kept an eye and an ear out for some sort of sign, noticing nothing. There was _nothing_. No houses or towers, no farms, nothing that showed that people lived here. He knew the boys had been kicked from their country, but it seemed they weren’t even living anymore. His head spun. There was so much that he was missing and here he was, being thrown into it. Dream hadn’t said much either, something about Wilbur and Tommy needing help. That’s all the convincing that Phil had needed. The grass of the forest crunched beneath his feet, iced over from the cool climate. He could see his panting as he ran, examining each tree and hillside. He checked his coordinates again, confused. This is the place. But there was nothing but a four block hole in the ground.

_Ph1LzA has whispered to Nihachu: I’m here. Where is everything?_

_Nihachu has whispered to Ph1LzA: I’ll be right there._

There was a beat, the howl of a wolf and the swaying of the breeze. He gripped his pack tighter, colder than he expected. There was no way Techno lived out here. The piglin was accustomed to warm climates by nature and had always despised the cold. He got cold too fast, which is why he wore so many layers and that ridiculously heavy cloak. He faced what seemed to be a lake, watching his breath steam in front of him as the adrenaline from his run started to wear off. His heart was still racing, he was still too concerned, but it was for something else. He immediately gripped his sword as the sound of dirt breaking echoed around him. He turned to see a girl peering at him from the side of the hill he was in front of. Torch light flooded out and his heart stuttered. There was nothing out here because nothing was above the ground.

_His boys lived underground in a cave._

It was smart, smart for those banished from the place they had called home. His heart did ache at the idea and he hoped the inside was nice. So far, the top room was not as nice. There was a dog, a bed and a few chests, including an Ender Chest. Some furnaces lined the walls, but Niki was already leading him past that. He was led down cobblestone stairs and into a ravine where the sounds echoed. Right now the noises were all jumbled, a mix of screaming and laughing. For a moment, his heart settled. They crossed a rickety wooden bridge and Niki glanced back. “I know you just got here, but it’s Wilbur, he’s-“ She cut herself off, hands gripping into fists. That relief he had felt all but vanished as they climbed further down. There was Tommy yelling briefly, something about Tubbo’s death, and Phil heard Techno respond. He couldn’t understand what anyone was saying as Wilbur chimed in. The echoes made it much harder to understand what each person was saying, especially as they began talking over each other.

Then _it_ happened.

A sound Phil had never wanted to ever hear again.

It was the pained squeal of a piglin, in his son’s deep voice, followed by a blood-curdling scream from Tommy. He could hear the grunting and stomping around, his footsteps picking up. He pushed past Niki, though he did reach out a hand to steady her so she didn’t fall. The noises became clearer and clearer and he felt sick. Tommy was pleading for Techno to recognize him, to stop fighting him, but Phil knew it wasn’t going to work. As smart as Techno was and as careful as they all were, he _was_ also a Piglin. Stolen straight from the Nether as a prize that a group of adventurers claimed years and years ago, ending up in Phil’s care when he came upon the group waving the child around. No matter how human his son had become, there were still things that he couldn’t fight.

Gold Rage was one of them.

Those squeals and grunts, ones of anger and pain, only came out when the crown was out of his sight. He had described it to Phil at one point, shy and scared of himself. It was like a flood, the then boy had said. So overwhelming that everything else was drowned out. He couldn’t even think past getting his hands on something gold when it happened, his mind a scrambled mess. He mentioned that he felt blind during his rages and never remembered what happened during it, describing it as if he was waking up after the rage was over. Phil had hugged him close, had given him the crown and had ensured they had gold around their family home, just so Techno wouldn’t be afraid of himself. If the resource was abundant and easy to access, they could stop something bad before it happened.

For a brief moment, there’s just Tommy pleading and Techno squealing in the way Phil knows he hates. Then the laughter starts again and Phil realizes what’s happening as he comes to a stop at the bottom of the steps. His blood runs cold and it takes everything in him not to be sick, cry or both. He wasn’t old, he refused to call himself that, but he never would have expected this in his lifetime. Not of them, not of _him_. He staggered and his eyes flicked around the room. The cold gray of the walls, the warm glow of the lanterns, the chains and wood. There was an entrance to a farm that he knew Techno had probably slaved over, there were rooms off shooting from the ravine, blocks placed strategically to make the cave seem like a home. But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be.

Because against a wall was Wilbur staring over the pit he had put his two little brothers in, Techno’s crown clutched in the hand behind his back so it was hidden behind his jacket. The pit wasn’t large, but it was deep enough that neither Tommy nor Techno could crawl out. Tommy was stuck in there with his older brother in a gold rage while the other was manically laughing and urging them on. “Come on Tommy! He killed Tubbo! Isn’t this what you wanted?!” Wilbur goaded as his shoulders shook. Phil took a staggering step forward as Tommy attempted to jump out of the pit, hands clawing against the floors. “Wilbur! Please! I don’t have his crown, you know he hates this. Let me out so we can find it for him.” Tommy pleaded desperately as Techno let out another enraged noise.

They only had a small space to maneuver in, so there wasn’t a lot of space that Tommy would escape to. The youngest scrambled for a moment before Techno was grabbing him and pulling him down. Next to him, Niki gasped. It seemed she could move while everything in him refused to function. He felt as if the cool air from above had gotten colder with each step and he was now frozen to the floor. He had his eyes trained on Wilbur’s fingers clasping Techno’s crown. His eldest was laughing, laughing, and holding the item that kept one of his younger brother’s sanity in check. His eyes burned and there was something wet dripping down his palm. He numbly looked down to see that he had clenched his fists and his nails had dug into his skin. He shook out his hands and looked up.

One of Tommy’s hands clawed against the lip of the pit and Phil watched as Wilbur’s boot came down against the teenager’s hands. There was a high pitched yelp and Wilbur let out another maniacal laugh. “Come on Tommy! I thought you could take him!” Wilbur goaded, leaning over the pit more. His shoulders shook with each word, the amusement evident in his voice. It made Phil feel disgusted, to see his son acting like that. He could hear Tommy sob and Techno squeal again. He took another step, opening his mouth after taking a long breath. He needed to stop this, needed to snatch the crown from Wilbur’s hands and get it back to Techno, needed to pull Tommy out of the stone hole and patch up his wounds—

_“He’s just a piglin, Tommy! You’ve killed plenty of them before! What’s stopping you now?!”_

Never in his life would Phil ever think he would see red after hearing one of his own children speak.

He never thought he would hear Wilbur speak about Techno like that, speak about anyone like that. It broke his heart, made him want to sob and scream and shake Wilbur out of the state he was in. After all, as children, Wilbur had been Techno’s most adamant defender, defending him from cruel children and adults alike. He had taken the role of a big brother as soon as Phil had brought the pup home. He helped teach Techno how to speak, had spent hours learning about piglins and how litters acted so Techno didn’t feel so confused in this new world, with a new family. He learned how to roughhouse and how to press up against Techno in the way that piglin pups did. Wilbur shared his blankets and warm sweaters, curled up next to Techno during the bitterly cold months when the younger was just _so cold_. Even as they grew older and Techno became more accustomed to living in the Overworld, Wilbur was stubborn and always ensured that he was warm. After all, Techno was the one who worked on keeping them cool when they traversed his realm of the Nether. 

The words that had been forming died immediately at Wilbur’s cruel statement, a little part of Phil dying as well. He took three steps, grabbed the back of Wilbur’s collar and yanked him back. Wilbur stumbled and toppled to his knees, but Phil paid no mind. With his free hand, he took the crown. When he looked down at Tommy, he watched a myriad of emotions form on the teenager’s face as he noticed Phil, then noticing that Phil had taken the crown from Wilbur then as he realized what Wilbur had truly done. Tommy went to say something but was cut off with Phil passing the crown to him. “Tommy, give Techno his crown back, then give him space. That will calm him down.” He instructed gently and he earned a nod. Techno’s enraged squealing became higher pitched with more distress before calming into soft snuffles and oinks as the rage died down. He looked down at Wilbur and blinked at how ecstatic the other looked to see him.

He released Wilbur’s coat and immediately had his arms grabbed. “Dad! You’re- you’re here!” He drew in a breath as Wilbur began to speak, his face alight with utter joy. If it weren’t for how empty his eyes looked, how the bags under his eyes seemed so dark, and how messy his hair was, Wilbur would almost seem normal. “I’ve missed you so much! Oh! This is great, there’s so much for me to catch you up on!“ He began to ramble, on and on about plans and traitors and something about being the _villain_. Phil’s head spun and he pulled his eyes away from Wilbur to look at the other two. Tommy was still standing in the pit, with Techno curled up not far away. Techno wasn’t nearly as hurt as Tommy but Phil could see the panic creeping up, the despair of having lost himself for such a short amount of time. He could see that Techno refused to even face Tommy, curling in on himself as much as he could.

Yet, Wilbur spoke on. As if he didn’t even notice that his father wasn’t paying attention. He didn’t, he didn’t see the hurt on everyone’s faces, or how Tommy looked a second from passing out, or how Techno was making himself as small as he physically could. These things Wilbur always seemed to pick out first weren’t noticed at all. Phil looked back down and looked at the smile on Wilbur’s face as he explained his plan. “-and today was a bit of a setback, with Techno killing Tubbo and then Tubbo and Niki being banished, but there’s no reason for us _not_ to go through with it! Tommy’s just upset that Tubbo died and that’s why he and Techno were in the—“

_“Enough.”_

Everyone froze at Phil’s cold tone, watching as Phil looked down at Wilbur. “Wilbur… You put your younger brothers in a pit. A hole in the ground. You deliberately took and hid Techno’s crown to send him into a gold rage with Tommy in close range to him. You _laughed_ as Tommy begged, Wilbur! That- that isn’t something to laugh about!” He could feel his tone raising and he bit on his lip, looking desperately into his son’s eyes. Had they always been that dark? Wilbur had such lovely brown eyes, always so warm and full of life. They always had a look in them, one so kind and beautiful but now he just looked as if he were starved. He was hungry, hungry for something so far out of his reach. Something inside him was broken and Phil was so late, so behind on this. He should have been here, should have prevented all of this, but he wasn’t. He didn’t and now all of his boys were suffering the consequences. 

Heartbreak bloomed on Wilbur’s face. “I- what?” He whispered out, shaking his head. He desperately clawed at Phil’s clothes, holding on tight. Phil could see tears starting to build and his chest hurt from it. “Dad, no, you can’t be serious. I didn’t- It’s not as bad-“ He cut Wilbur off with a firm shake of his head, though he didn’t pull back from the hard clutches. “Wilbur, do you know what you said to Tommy? About Techno?” He interrupted quietly, drawing a tight breath from Tommy. He looked over and swallowed hard. It was clear Tommy knew exactly what he was talking about, though Techno had looked over in confusion at hearing his name. His snout twitched as his brows furrowed, not having remembered anything from the fight it seemed. 

Wilbur shook his head frantically. “I- I didn’t mean that! I swear I didn’t mean to-“ He was cut off again, this time by Phil kneeling down. Phil sighed and reached out, stroking his son’s cheek. “You did, you did in that moment, Wilbur, and that’s not okay. But I know you don’t truly believe what you said, not deep down. That’s why I’m here, why Dream let me on.” He stood back up, pulling Wilbur to his feet. “Go to…. Wherever your room is. Go, pack and then rest for the night. We leave tomorrow.” He ordered. He could feel the confusion radiating off of Wilbur and watched as he was searched for something. Wilbur seemed to find whatever he was looking for because the look in his eyes became suddenly crazed. He yanked his hands out of Phil’s grasp and shook his head rapidly. 

“No- no! This is some sick fucking joke, isn’t it?! Dad, I can’t- Not you too!” Wilbur shrieked, earning flinches from both of his younger brothers and Niki. “You haven’t been here, you don’t get to just _waltz_ in like you know what we’ve been through!” Phil watched as Wilbur began to break down in a rage. He didn’t cave, not how Wilbur expected him to. Instead he tilted his chin up and set his jaw, giving them a glimpse of how he treated those who crossed him or his family. Wilbur didn’t back down at it, snarling almost like an animal. There was the scuffing of hooves on stone followed by rustling and Phil didn’t need to look over to know that Techno had boosted Tommy out of the Pit. Wilbur, forgetting the first thing about battles, broke eye contact first, taking his eyes off of Phil. (Of course this wasn’t a physical altercation, so Phil wouldn’t be using this to his advantage but it did show that Wilbur didn’t seem to be remembering all the lessons he had been taught as a child.) 

When Wilbur looked back at him, he had turned his cold look into a stern one. _Do not test me, child._ The nasty voice in the back of his head said, the one that always considered his boys to be his _boys_ despite being all grown up. Wilbur took a step forward, Phil didn’t budge. Another step, Phil’s jaw locked. A third, now Phil spoke. His words were quiet, but not weak. It was the warning tone that indicated that Wilbur had a single chance to back down. _“Wilbur, do not.”_ He said, tipping his chin up. It got Wilbur to stop walking forward, but it did start up the screaming again. He nearly cringed at the tone, though years of experience kept him in control. He had never had to be so guarded around any of his children and it was making his head spin. This type of control was reserved for strangers, not the boys he took in one by one.

“God, you think I’m insane too, Huh? That I’m a fucking disappointment. I bet that’s what you’re thinking right now, _‘oh dear Wilbur’s gone off the deep end, I didn’t raise him like this, oh what a terrible father I am, at least the other two turned out okay’_ Two out of three turned out perfect, didn’t they? They won’t fucking disappoint you like _I_ did—“ Wilbur’s rants were cut off as Phil held up his hand. Rage wasn’t something that he felt commonly. It wasn’t the common explosion that it was with Tommy, the flood that was with Techno or the long coming detonation of Wilbur. It was a simmering pot on the stove, the heat being slowly turned up. He was a frog, sitting in it, blissfully unaware until it became too hot. He couldn’t jump out, but he also was too stubborn to die. 

So he burned.

“Wilbur, I said that is _enough_. Do you not see what this is doing to you? When have I ever thought, _ever_ , that you were a disappointment? Even now, seeing the destruction you’ve caused, hearing the words that you’ve spoken, I am not ashamed to call you my son. I am certainly not fucking proud, but you are my son. I’m pissed, god am I so fucking pissed at you right now, but that’s why I’m here. That’s why you’re going to listen to me right now. All three of you are going to listen. Whatever war’s you’ve started, whatever mass chaos you’ve caused here _is done_.” He whirled around to look sternly at Tommy and Techno as well, fixing them with a look. All three began to protest but he simply spoke over them. “No, you’ve done enough here for now. You are going to pack and we are going to go home until we sort this out. If I have to convince Dream to ban you three for a bit, I will.” 

They had finally fallen quiet, all staring at him. Niki seemed to be watching as well and he noticed another figure peeking out from another room. Tubbo, Tommy’s best friend and the boy Techno had killed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “Dad, you’re… shaking.” Tommy pointed out and Phil looked down. His hands were shaking, looking as unsteady as he felt. He inhaled again and exhaled through his nose, lifting his head again. “I’m okay. Upset, but okay. We’re going to be okay. All of us.” He decided on, crossing his arms over his chest. Now they wouldn’t have to see how close he was to shattering. They couldn’t, not right now. He needed to be the strong one, needed to be their father who fought off monsters and bandaged scraped knees and kissed them good night.

“I know I haven’t been here, but I’m here now. No matter what you three have done here, I am still your father. And as your father, I’m putting my foot down. No arguments, no buts. We leave tomorrow. You all need time and space away from everything that has happened, time to cope and breathe and think everything through. Once we have done that, then you can consider coming back here. Am I clear?” 

The three nods he earned were enough. It was followed by footsteps and the sound of hooves, as well as doors slamming and muffled yelling. Wilbur had shoved past him, muttering under his breath at a rate nobody could understand. Techno was quieter and refused to make eye contact as he left the ravine to go back to his own base for his things. Niki had rushed Tommy up the stairs before Phil could get his hands on the teenager, joining Tubbo judging by the exclamation of concern from the infirmary.

He took one look around the ravine again and noticed nobody. He relaxed his posture and looked down at his hands in confusion. He was going to fix this, going to fix the mess his boys had gotten themself into, he was back to taking care of them. It would take a while and a lot of tears, but he knew they would come out stronger. He hadn’t raised them to let something like this tear them apart. He was optimistic, even if everything seemed to be falling apart in his fingers. The ties they had all worked so hard to make with each other seemed to be ash, burnt beyond repair. 

He shook his head and shoved his hands back into his jacket before turning and walking towards the cobblestone stairs again. He didn’t need anyone else pointing it out again, not when they had so much work to do. Even if the bonds they used to have were broken, they could forge new ones. They could, they would, he would make sure of that. As he reached the bottom of the steps, Tommy’s head peeked out from further up and he looked up to see his youngest peering down at him. They held eye contact for a moment, Tommy’s blue eyes staring hard into his. He offered a comforting smile and watched as Tommy relaxed before disappearing into the room again. Tension washed out of his body as he climbed up the makeshift staircase. This fight was over, he had won this battle.

They would be going home.

_So why were his hands still shaking?_

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #1: "Another character spots their hands shaking so they hide them"
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed! I actually like this fic a lot, even if it is fairly short and simple. Comments and kudos are always appreciated so don't feel shy!


End file.
